A Weekly Summary of WSDOT News and Activities
September 15, 2008 Weekly Report - Time 4:59 (mp3)
Project of the Week - Culvert installation to close part of SR 539 for four days
The existing Deer Creek culvert under SR 539 (Guide Meridian) near Bellingham will be replaced to improve stream flow and fish passage. |
Crews will temporarily close the Guide Meridian (SR 539) to help get fish moving again. WSDOT is wrapping up work on the first stage of the Guide Meridian (SR 539) widening project in Whatcom County and will soon start work installing a new box culvert at Deer Creek. The current culvert is structurally sound, but isn’t long enough for the widening project. The new culvert will be longer, wider and will meet today’s environmental standards for water flow and fish passage.
Crews will need to close the Guide for four days – Thursday, Sept. 18 through Monday, Sept. 22 – between Axton and Smith roads to complete the installation. While this closure will be an inconvenience, it will allow crews to complete the work more quickly to avoid long-term impacts to drivers and sensitive environmental areas. Deer Creek runs nearly 30 feet below the level of the road. Bordered by steep slopes and thick vegetation, the culvert is a challenge to replace. By closing the road for four straight days, crews will be able to work around the clock to cut through the road, remove the existing culvert and install the new box culvert.
The road will close at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18 and reopen by 7 a.m. Monday, Sept. 22. Local access to businesses and residences will remain open, but drivers heading to Lynden or Bellingham will need to use the signed detour routes. Maps and information about the detour routes are posted on the project Web page and the Guide Meridian blog. Each detour will add approximately three miles and up to 20 minutes to a drivers’ commute. Crews hope that providing closure and detour route information well in advance of construction will allow drivers to plan alternate routes. Delays during construction could last as long as an hour and stretch up to three miles if drivers don’t choose routes around the construction.
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Maintenance & Operations feature - WSDOT launches new work zone safety tool
State Traffic Engineer Ted Trepanier explains WSDOT's goal for the automated speed enforcement camera is to keep motorists and workers safe in work zones. |
WSDOT and Washington State Patrol (WSP) have teamed up to launch a new tool aimed at slowing drivers through active highway construction work zones. On Sept. 5, they hosted a public open house and media event to kick off a one-year pilot project that uses automated speed enforcement cameras to cite motorists driving too fast through construction work zones.
“Along with our Washington State Patrol partners, we place a high priority on highway safety,” said Ted Trepanier, WSDOT State Traffic Engineer at the kick-off event Friday in Chehalis. “We want speeds to go down, which will make work zones safer for drivers and our crews. The automated traffic safety cameras are just part of the highway safety program.”
There are close to 2,000 traffic incidents each year in state highway work zones. While the high-profile crashes are decreasing, those smaller incidents that block traffic and cause minor injuries keep increasing. WSDOT’s concern is both for the safety of our workers – and motorists – close to 99 percent of people injured or killed in work zone collisions are drivers and their passengers.
WSDOT held the open house and media event on a closed taxiway at the Centralia/Chehalis Airport to demonstrate to the general public, news media and Lewis County Court officials how the equipment works. WSP troopers used cars with certified speedometers to drive past a radar and camera-equipped sport utility vehicle parked along the roadway. When a vehicle speeds by, exceeding the enforcement threshold, a photo of the vehicle’s rear license plate is captured, and the vehicle’s registered owner will receive a $137 citation in the mail within 14 days.
Photo speed enforcement operations will start on Sept. 14 when workers are present at the I-5 Rush Road project in Chehalis. Signs will be posted along the freeway to inform drivers that photo enforcement of speed limit is taking place, and the news media will be alerted when the cameras are being used.
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Update of projects under way
US 2/US 97 Peshastin - Motorists will be using the new US 2/97 interchange at Peshastin six months ahead of schedule. Even though the original plans called for opening the interchange next spring, traffic will be shifted onto the new US 2 alignment Saturday. Sept. 13. The US 2/97 Interchange project builds a new diamond interchange where the Stevens and Blewett Pass highways intersect between Cashmere and Leavenworth in Chelan County. This $21.6 million 2003 gas tax project addresses safety deficiencies identified in the 2002 US 2/97 Safety Corridor Study. The project’s contractor, KLB Construction of Mukilteo, developed a plan to build the interchange and an orchard-equipment underpass in a single phase, rather than multiple phases.
SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct Seattle - On Sept. 12, WSDOT, King County and the City of Seattle took the next step to replace the southern mile of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, as crews broke ground on the S. Massachusetts Street to Railroad Way S. Electrical Line Relocation Project. The electrical lines must be relocated before work begins in 2009 to replace the viaduct south of King Street. Relocating the lines underground will also better protect the downtown power supply in an earthquake. Crews will relocate a little less than one mile of line that is currently attached to the viaduct to underground locations near the stadiums. The amount of cable used in this project is more than 13 miles from end to end. This work will take approximately one year to complete. This is the second of six Moving Forward projects announced in March 2007 that will replace or repair about half of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
US 101, SR 8 and SR 109 Grays Harbor & Jefferson counties - WSDOT wrapped up a $1 million project which adds roadside safety features along state highways on the West Olympic Peninsula ahead of schedule and under budget. The project improves safety for drivers on highways in Grays Harbor and Jefferson counties. Crews selected 28 locations along US 101, SR 8 and SR 109 and installed new guardrail, rumble strips, removed roadside hazards and flattened slopes. Construction began in April, and was scheduled to last five months. Petersen Brothers, Inc., contractor for the project, finished the project three weeks ahead of schedule and under budget.
I-405 Renton - Work is under way on I-405 between the southbound and northbound lanes where crews are constructing piers for a new bridge over Oakesdale Avenue SW in Renton. The new bridge is part of the I-5 to SR 169 Stage 1 Widening Project. The new piers near Springbrook Creek will be constructed before the fall fish run begins in October. Once the piers are in place, demolition crews will remove the remaining portion of the old southbound bridge. Crews plan to construct the new northbound bridge within the next year. The completed bridge is expected to open by summer 2010.
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Announcements
Gov. Gregoire honors top 25 employers with “Commute Smart Award”
Washington employers with exceptional employee transportation programs were honored with the “Governor’s Commute Smart Award” during the Sept. 10 closing luncheon of WSDOT's Public Transportation Conference and Expo in Kennewick. The awards were presented by Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond.
“Congratulations to this year’s award winners, who have shown their commitment to encouraging employees to reduce drive alone commuting,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire. “These best practices are shining examples to both public and private sector organizations and I am glad they will be shared throughout the state.”
The Governor’s Commute Smart Awards recognize employers who have model programs that encourage positive change in their employees’ commuting habits and reduce drive-alone commuting. Washington’s Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Task Force (now the CTR Board) started the awards program in 1998. The Washington State Department of Transportation solicited nominations and selected this year’s winners. In all, 25 companies were honored in 13 categories. The awards categories range from the Champion Award, honoring consistent, time-proven leadership in commute trip reduction, to the Site Challenges Award, recognizing employers achieving program success despite limited transit service or highly secure work sites.
Washington Emergency Responders Working Together to Quickly Get Traffic Moving
Collisions, stalls and other traffic incidents cause more than half of urban congestion. Emergency responders are coming together to get traffic incidents off the roadways faster and keep traffic moving. First responders, including WSDOT’s Incident Response Team, Washington State Patrol, local fire services, Washington State Department of Ecology, towing companies and other aid groups work together to clear incidents from Washington’s state highways.
To get traffic moving quicker and work safely, they are finding new and innovative ways to communicate and work together. These groups are coming together at the Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Conference Sept. 16 and 17 at the Lacey Community Center in Lacey.
"We have found that every minute a lane is blocked during commute hours, it adds four to 10 minutes of traffic congestion," said Rick Phillips, WSDOT Incident Response Program Manager. "It’s our goal to get to and clear the road as rapidly as possible to minimize the impact on congestion, especially during peak periods."
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Gray Notebook Highlight - Fish Passage Barriers
WSDOT and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) have worked cooperatively since 1991 on a program to inventory, prioritize and correct barriers to fish passage on streams that flow through culverts under state highways. WDFW's ongoing statewide inventory of fish bearing culverts for all 7,045 of the state highway system was completed during fall 2007. A total of 6,469 crossings were examined by WDFW. They identified 1,440 high-priority WSDOT-owned culverts as needing modification or replacement. To date, WSDOT has removed 218 of these barriers and improved access to approximately 486 miles of upstream habitat. A list of projects completed in 2007 and those going to construction in 2008, like this week's Deer Creek culvert Project of the Week, can be found in the June 2008 Gray Notebook at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/accountability.
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September open houses, meetings and events
16, Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Community outreach meeting, Washington State Transportation Commission - Bremerton: The Transportation Commission will meet with city, county, tribal and state officials to share information about local and regional transportation in Kitsap County and the Olympic Peninsula. A public comment period is scheduled at 3:45 p.m. Location: Kitsap Conference Center at Bremerton Harborside, Puget Sound Ballroom D, 100 Washington Avenue, Bremerton.
16, Tuesday, 4 - 7 p.m., Open House, I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East, Final EIS - Bellevue: I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East project team members will hold a series of four open houses across the state. They will present the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the 15 mile corridor from Hyak to Easton on I-90. A wide range of community and environmental issues were examined. Come learn more about our findings. Location: Lewis Creek Visitors Center, 5808 Lakemont Blvd., Bellevue.
16, Tuesday, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Open House, Alaskan Way Viaduct Central Waterfront - West Seattle: WSDOT, King County, City of Seattle and the Federal Highway Administration are holding a series of public scoping open houses. These meetings are an opportunity to review project information and to let us know what issues, such as noise, air quality, traffic, etc., should be considered in the central waterfront environmental document. Location: Fauntleroy Church, 9140 California Ave. SW, Seattle.
18, Thursday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Community outreach meeting, Washington State Transportation Commission - Friday Harbor: The Transportation Commission will meet with city, county and state officials to discuss transportation, tourism and ferry service in San Juan County. A public comment period is scheduled at 3:15 p.m. Location: San Juan County Council Chambers Hearing Room, 55 Second Street, Friday Harbor.
18, Thursday, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Open House, Alaskan Way Viaduct Central Waterfront - Ballard: WSDOT, King County, City of Seattle and the Federal Highway Administration are holding a series of public scoping open houses. These meetings are an opportunity to review project information and to let us know what issues, such as noise, air quality, traffic, etc., should be considered in the central waterfront environmental document. Location: Leif Erikson Hall, 2245 NW 57th St., Seattle.
For more details, please visit the WSDOT Calendar of Events.
Express Lane Archive
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